For Americans who are in the midst of the millennium, the decline of the United States, whether it is the elite or the lower class, they will only subconsciously feel that this is a false proposition.

After a hundred years of peak, I won World War II and destroyed the Soviet Union. What else can I do?

Of course it is eternal glory.

So much so that a certain 'end of history' argument appeared, believing that the American system is the ultimate form of human civilization. After 1991, the world will continue forever under the leadership of the United States.

However, for Simon, a latecomer, he certainly understood that the so-called end of history is the real false proposition.

It is even said that the decline of the United States is much faster than many people imagine.

It is still from 1991 that in just 30 years, the huge empire at its peak showed a shaky and declining state. Some people may refute that even if the United States is still the world's number one in twenty years, the lean camel is bigger than a horse, and the broken ship has three thousand nails, so how could it be so easy to decline?

The problem is, for example, when the problems accumulate to a certain extent, will it collapse in a moment, or because it is taller, it can resist the gravity of the earth and slowly tilt it to collapse for decades?

On the realistic level, the Great Depression is the most direct example.

The United States reached its global peak in the last decade of the 19th century, the world's largest economy. Moreover, because of its sufficient geographical superiority, it can be said that there is no strong enemy outside and no worries inside. It can be called a utopia. However, in 1929, it seemed that suddenly, why did an economic disaster that was almost doomsday occur?

It can be said that if it weren't for the outbreak of World War II, the demands of the entire world would have been pushed to the United States outside the battlefield, and there would be a huge amount of funds and elite groups escaping risks from all over the world, it would be absolutely not so easy for this country to completely get out of the impact of the Great Depression and return to its peak.

Another example is the Soviet Union.

The huge empire cannot collapse in a short period of time. What about the Soviet Union?

So some people say that the Soviet Union is different from the United States, and the system is different, how can it collapse? So, the system cannot collapse, what about the economy?

Go back to 1929.

Not overnight!

Why?

Just like Ukrainian agriculture that Simon had learned about a few years ago, in just a few years, Ukraine's grain output could drop from more than 50 million tons before the collapse of the Soviet Union to 10 million tons, a drop of nearly 80%.

The fundamental reason is that the entire modern social operating system, whether in agriculture or other fields, is a huge and closely integrated machine. When a fatal failure occurs in one aspect of this machine, the impact will be quickly transmitted to the whole body, causing a collapsed domino effect, and eventually the entire machine will quickly disintegrate in a burst spark and turn into nothing.

It was still in 1929 that the US stock market collapsed, and the entire country collapsed, and the residents of small towns who had never been exposed to stocks in the central U.S. valleys had to start to endure hunger.

In the past 1990s, the Soviet Union collapsed, so in ordinary people's impression, Ukraine, which had land in theory, could produce large quantities of food, plummeted by 80% at its lowest point, so that the entire Soviet Union could still use it to export and earn foreign exchange to help the financially tight Eastern European granaries, which had to seek international assistance to avoid the occurrence of famine.

In short, nothing lasts forever, nor is it big and not fallen. Many times, it is just overnight.

Inside the restaurant of Rebeld.

Because the topic was mentioned by Simon, as a standard American in the middle of the sky, Nora Register, of course, could not be regarded as a sensationalist, not to mention that Simon used 1929 as an example, which made her unable to refute.

After a little thought, Nora asked, "So, Simon, what do you think the Federation faces the problem that could cause...well, the history of 1929 repeats itself?"

"If you put aside our pride as the world's largest country and study it carefully, you can find a hundred problems in a week, a hundred federations that had existed similar problems before 1929, because history is always repeating," Simon said. "But if I were to give a summary, I think the biggest problem facing the United States is that no one is willing to sacrifice."

Simon said this, not only Nora, but the rest of the other people on the dining table paused and looked over with inquiring eyes.

Simon did not wait for the question, and then said: "If a country wants to solve internal problems, it requires all classes to reach a tacit understanding and sacrifice part of its own interests to complete it. The current problem of the Federation is that the rich class refuses to pay more taxes to solve the problem, and the politician class refuses to lose their votes to solve the problem. Even ordinary people are unwilling to lose even a little bit of their own interests to solve the problem. For example, the most typical rust belt, the heavy industry of the Federation back then

The center, ordinary blue-collar workers received the same high salary as university professors, but they were not satisfied. The whole family had to provide medical insurance for the company, and the continuous reduction of working hours was not satisfied. Therefore, under the leadership of the trade union, it was a state of reverse exploitation of capital. As a result, major automobile giants had to move factories to the south and overseas, and some had a huge supporting industrial chain. In the end, everything they had once enjoyed was gone."

After Simon finished speaking, everyone fell into thought.

A moment later, Nora looked at Simon again and asked a somewhat sharp question: "Simon, as the largest capitalist in the federal government, are you willing to make sacrifices?"

"Of course I do it," Simon said. "In fact, if you look back at history, you will find that many wealthy people like me are willing. They have publicly called for taxes to be raised more than once. This may seem a bit hypocritical to some people, but it is not the case. Because we understand that taking on more social responsibilities can enable the country that we depend on to operate better, which is also beneficial to us."

Nora remembered that she had done a lot of knowledge about Westeros system 3G plan in private, which was indeed a series of projects considered for the future of mankind. When she looked at the young tycoon opposite, she did not doubt the other party's words, so she asked again: "So, what's the problem?"

Simon smiled and said, "I just said that no one is willing to make sacrifices. Of course, the 'people' here cannot be said to be some individual individuals. To be precise, they should be various different groups. The world is not lacking in consciousness. The problem is that when it is enlarged to the group level, the selfish nature deep in human genes is difficult to reverse."
Chapter completed!